Libri di Dan J. Stein

Psychotropic agents have been effective for the treatment of the emotional, and cognitive symptoms of serious psychiatric disorders. At the same time, the availability of such agents raises questions about the appropriate use of what might be termed 'smart pills', 'happy pills', or 'pep pills'. This volume argues that developments in modern psychopharmacology raise a range of important philosophical questions, and may ultimately change the way we think about ourselves. It provides a framework for addressing important philosophical issues in psychiatry and psychopharmacology. The approach is a naturalistic one, drawing on theory and data from modern cognitive-affective neuroscience and attempts to address objective and subjective aspects of psychiatric disorders, to integrate our knowledge of mechanisms and meanings, and to provide a balanced view of the good and the bad of psychotropics.

Psychiatrists and other mental health care and medical professionals can now turn to a truly authoritative, up-to-date reference for current information about mood disorders. The American Psychiatric Publishing Textbook of Mood DisordersAincluding a wealth of illustrations, tables and referencesApresents the state of the art in diagnosis, psychobiology, pharmacotherapy, and psychotherapy across the vast spectrum of mood disorders: Symptomatology and Epidemiology: -Historical aspects and social underpinnings of mood disorders. -Classification and rating scales. -Global burden (the high costs of depression and bipolar disorder). Pathogenesis: -Neurochemistry and psychoneuroendocrinology. -Cognitive processing models (experimental cognitive research). -Evolutionary explanations (the normal role of low mood in disengaging individuals from goals they cannot reach). Methods of Investigation: -Anatomical pathology (strengths and limitations of human postmortem studies). -Molecular and cellular neurobiology of severe mood disorders (abnormalities in the regulation of signaling). -Genetics of bipolar and unipolar disorders. Types of Mood Disorder: -Psychotic depression (distinct from nonpsychotic depression in presenting features, biology, familial transmission, course, and response to treatment). -Seasonal affective disorder (use of light therapy in SADS and also in other depression). -Secondary depression with medical illness (calling for large-scale studies to gauge treatment efficacy). -Major depression seen in primary care (as prevalent as hypertension). -Substance abuse (a long-standing source of controversy). -Sleep disorders (risk factors for the new onset of depression). Treatments: -Pharmacotherapy (including tricyclics and tetracyclics, MAOIs, SSRIs and newer antidepressants, lithium and other mood stabilizers, antipsychotics, hormonal interventions, and augmentation strategies). -Brain stimulation techniques (such as ECT, transcranial magnetic stimulation, and vagus nerve and deep brain stimulation). -Psychotherapies (cognitive-behavioral, interpersonal, and psychoanalytic/psychodynamic). Pertinent Factors: -Personality (the need for further study of the degree and the etiologic nature of relationships between specific traits or disorders and major depression). -Culture (suggesting a model of cultural consultation using multilingual, multicultural clinicians and culture brokers to supplement routine care). -Gender (women being about twice as likely as men to have mood disorders) -Age (pediatric and geriatric depression and suicidality). Offering a fascinating synthesis of the multifaceted field of mood disorders, the richly informative American Psychiatric Publishing Textbook of Mood Disorders will prove invaluable for psychiatric and medical practitioners, educators, students, and residents interested in the latest breakthroughs in the diagnosis, treatment, and management of mood disorders.

This book presents a comprehensive overview of recent advances in evidence-based pharmacological treatment of psychiatric disorders. There have been very significant developments in our understanding of the methods for systematically reviewing literature, assessing clinical trials and optimising decision making. The book explores these issues and applies the lessons learned to the practical management of major psychiatric conditions, addressing issues such as selecting the best first-line psychopharmacological intervention for a particular disorder, how long a particular intervention should be continued, and identifying the next-best treatment strategy should the first agent fail. Conditions covered include, amongst others, depression, schizophrenia, panic, PTSD, OCD, ADHD and eating disorders. The potential for complications as a result of adverse interactions between drugs is also examined. These issues lie at the heart of clinical psychopharmacology and the book will therefore appeal to all practising clinicians, whether in a primary care or a specialist mental health setting.

Anxiety disorders are at once among the most disabling and the most prevalent of the psychiatric disordersAmore common than either mood or substance use disorders. Often misdiagnosed and undertreatedAperhaps because it is often difficult for patients to seek help and for caregivers to appreciate the morbidity of anxiety disordersAthese disorders account for a staggering one-third of all costs related to psychiatric disorders. This one-stop resource for both clinicians and researchers details not only the rigorous diagnostic schemas, underlying sophisticated psychobiological models, and effective pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy interventions developed during the past few decades but also the latest advances in this diverse field. Presenting the work of an unprecedented 77 U.S. and international experts, this 10-part textbook begins with an in depth discussion of the history, classification, preclinical models, concepts (evolutionary, cognitive, and psychodynamic), and combined treatment of anxiety disorders. -For clinicians, this exceptional reference then covers the phenomenology, etiology, psychotherapy, and pharmacotherapy of every major anxiety disorder: generalized anxiety disorder, mixed anxiety-depressive disorder, obsessive-compulsive and related disorders, panic disorder, social phobia, specific phobia, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and acute stress disorder. Also included are the latest theoretical and clinical issues that cut across all anxiety disorders. -For researchers, this densely packed volume shows that the study of anxiety disorders is indisputably one of the most interesting and rewarding areas of contemporary medical research, requiring the integration of data from disparate fields (such as neuroanatomy, neurochemistry, cognitive dysfunctions, and genetic and environmental studies) into powerful and sophisticated modelsAmodels that move us toward better understanding and more effective treatment of these complex disorders. For example, animal models of fear conditioning provide fascinating parallels with clinical phenomena such as posttraumatic stress disorder. Similarly, functional brain imaging demonstrates that pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder produce similar changes in the brain. The authors conclude by discussing anxiety disorders in relation to special populations, such as children, adolescents, and seniors; different medical settings; substance abuse; and culture and society, including economic costs and consumer considerations. This remarkable compendium of studies at the cutting edge of anxiety disorder research and clinical practice will be welcomed by psychiatric and medical clinicians, researchers, and educators as a uniquely valuable reference, and by other mental health care professionals who are interested in the latest developments in understanding and treating these important disorders.

Questo pratico manuale descrive i disturbi d'ansia e offre allo psichiatra i dati più aggiornati concernenti epidemiologia, pa